Corset-clasp



(No-Model.)

W. F. M'GGBE. CORSET CLASP.

N0.- 438,172. Patented 001:. 14, 1890.

Mmmey.

UNITED TATES. ATnNr FFIcE.

IVILLIAM F. MCGEE, OF JACKSON, MICHIGAN.

CORSET-CLASP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 438,172, dated October 14, 1890.

- Application iiled January 29, 1890. Serial No. 338,490. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, VILLIAM F. MCGEE, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Jackson, in the county of Jackson and State of Michigan, have invented new and useful Improvements in Corset-Cla sps; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to that class of corsetclasps which are attached to the busks of corsets and interlock with each other when the corset is closed around the wearer.

The object of my invention is to provide a fastening for the corset which can be readily and easily clasped and unclasped, and when fastened securely locked against any accidental loosening, while at the same time allowing free play of the busks upon one another to accommodate the corset to any chan ge of position of the wearer; and it consists in the curved body of the clasp, with the inwardly and backwardly bent tongue or keeper and the outwardly-bentlip of the spring-clasp attached to the outer side of one of the busks of the corset, and a catch attached to the other busk, and in the peculiar construction, arrangement, and combination of the several part-s, as hereinafter more particularly set forth and claimed.

Figure l is a perspective view of the busk or spring-steel of a corset with the springclasps. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the other busk with the catch. Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view through the busk and spring-clasp. Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view through the busk and catch. Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional View through the busks, the spring-clasp, and the catch, the busks being superimposed and the clasp engaged with the catch.

In the drawings, A represents the busk or steel spring in the front of the corset, on the outer side of which the spring-clasp B is secured. The busk is perforated at proper points a a a for the rivets, by which the spring-clasp B is attached to the busk. Thel Y clasp may be attached to the busk in any.

other manner, if desired. y

b is a flange at the rear end ofthe clasp, which rests on the busk and is perforated to admit the rivets, by which it is solidly fastened to the busk. The body of the clasp is bent outwardly from the busk at b', just in advance of the rivets. This outward proj ection is just sufficient to permit the busk on the other side of the corset and the covering fabric to interpose between the body of the spring-clasp and the busk. At b2 the clasp is bent forward, and the body of the clasp extends forward parallel, or nearly so, with the face of the busk about the width of the other busk. At b3 the body of the clasp is bent inward, and the extension inward reaches to the busk, where at b4 it turns forward and curves slightly upward, forming the lip D.

C is a tongue or keeper, stamped out of the clasp near its forward end and in rear of the lip' D. This tongue or keeper extends backward from the lip D nearly in the same plane or a little below and under the body of the clasp.

E is the busk or spring-steel of the other side of the corset, perforated at the points opposite the perforations in the busk A, for the passage of the rivets by which the elongated catch F is secured to the busk.

f is the flange of the elongated catch F, resting on the outer face of the busk E and perforated for the rivets by which it is fastened in place on the busk. The catch F is bent upward at f', and almost immediately at f 2 bent backward, forming the lip Gr.' 'The corners of the lip Gare rounded off to permit them to slide past the clasp without catching on the square or sharp corners. The edge of the lip G on the catch F, which engages with the keeper on the clasp, is straight and smooth to allow the keeper to slide up and down as the busks bend and to be drawn off at either.

end, thus disengaging the catch when the corset is to be loosened.

The catch F is elongated far beyond the width of the keeper on the clasp with which it engages, in order to allow the busks to move longitudinally on each other as they bend with the motion of the wearer without disengaging the clasp from the catch.

In operation, after the corset is put on,the busk E, with the catch F, is slipped under the lip D and the spring-clasp B until the catch has passed the tongue or keeper C. This fastens the corset in place, the busks IOO being superimposed on one another or placed one in frontY of the other, and the keeper prevents the catch from being withdrawn from the clasp. When the wearer desires to unfasten the corset, a slight push upward on the busk E and a pull downward on the busk A, or a slight pull downward on the busk E and a push upward on the busk A, slides the catch upward or downward and disengages it from the keeper and clasp. Thus by an easy mo- Ifion the corset is clasped, and by a different but equally easy movement lche corset is loosened.

What I claim as my invention is In a corset-clasp, the combination of the busk A, carrying the clasp B, with the' clasp B riveted to and bearing against the busk A, the lip D, to `facilitate the entrance of the elongated catch F on the bnsk E under the clasp B, the keeper C, to engage with the smooth-edged lip G on the elongated catch F on the busk E, the busk E, carrying the elongatedcatch F, and the elongated catch F, having the smooth-edged lip G to engage with' the keeper C on Iche clasp B, all substantially as described.

WILLIAM F. MCGEE. Witnesses:

. MELVILLE MCGEE, J. B. TIMBERLAKE. 

